Like is, like, not really like if you will
November 30, 2003 11:15 PM
A followup to the first 'like' article, Mark Liberman (also at Language Log) questions the assertion that 'like' is used in the same was as 'if you will.'
like is, like, not really like if you will:In these two examples, 8 discourse-particle likes get stuck in among a mere 38 non-like words — roughly one like every 5 words … Whatever the whining old fogeys may say, I think it’s this tic-tock frequency that bothers them.
